52 Week Challenge - Week 1

Happy New Year! As always I am off to a slow start, but it's not how we begin the race, but how we finish, right?

My friend Kym has started a 52 week challenge on her blog - the idea is to actually finish something once a week and show it. It does not have to be a big item, or something totally done in one week, so it should be fairly easy for me to follow along, and hopefully will force me to come up with some kind of a blog post once a week!
This is a journal cover I finished this week. It was made as a custom item for Etsy. Isn't it sweet? I have a few other panels from the line and plan on making them up as journals also. I used my journal cover pattern, centering the little bird on the front. I used pink and green fabrics to go with this as well as a stripe made of blue floral on the back to bring in the colors of the bird.

I free motion quilted around the bird and the twig, and it really looks nice. I really love making these journals and am always on the lookout for a cute small panel that would like nice as a cover. They are also really pretty using just strips of batik or other fabrics. I bought enough composition books this summer to make one a week for a year, but I promise I won't show you a journal every week for this challenge!

I suppose I'd better get going, after all, I did make a resolution to start getting to work on time, and if I don't hustle I'll mess that one up on the very first day!

Off to the races, or rather the quilt shop!

Pamela

Wednesday Project - Miniature Snowball and Nine-patch (part 2)

Today I promise you quick, fun and easy nine-patches, so lets get started!

Using the strips from last weeks step, (they should measure about 1 1/2" x 32", divide them in to 4 sets of three strips.

You will sew two sets with the lightest strip in the center position and two sets with the darkest strip in the center. Sew the first two strips together at the long sides, and press to the dark.

Then sew the third strip on and press this seam towards the dark. These strips should measure 3 1/2" x about 32".

Place one strip on the cutting board and square up the end of the strip by cutting at a 90 degree angle from the bottom of the strip.

Then, cut across the width of the strip in 1 1/2" strips.

Make sure you are making 90 degree cuts so you have nice squares when you sew them together. You can also use this nifty June Taylor ruler.

It has slits, so you can make a series of cuts without having to worry about moving and squaring up your ruler with every cut. Repeat for all 4 sets of strips. You should have a total of around 80 strips.

Mix up all your strips, then start sewing them together in pairs. You will sew 25 sets of pairs first, press, then add one more set of strips to your squares to make your nine-patches. Make sure to mix up the strips as you sew them, and avoid sewing the same sets together to make it look nice and scrappy. You have a few extra strips, so this will make it easier to make sure the last few blocks work out without having to plan ahead too much.

Press once more. Your squares should measure 3 1/2" x 3 1/2". Aren't they cute, and so easy to make! No one will believe you did it with strips!

Next week we will sew our blocks together to make the top. I've got some good tips to help out, so you'll want to check in and see how I do it!

Wednesday Project - Miniature Snowball and 9-Patch Quilt

This is the debut of my Wednesday Project feature. Each Wednesday I am going to give you instructions for a basic quilting project. Some will be complete in one day, some will be a series. This first project will be a series - Miniature Snowball and Nine-Patch.

To make this project you will need:

12 strips: 1 1/2 inches by 45 inches of a variety of blue fabrics from light to dark.

1 Fat Quarter white or white on white fabric.

1/3 yard blue fabric for border.

For todays step you will cut 8 squares 1 1/2 inches from each blue strip for a total of 96 squares

Cut 24 squares 3 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches from the white fat quarter.

This technique is one of my favorite ways to add a triangle to the corner of a square, and is especially handy for working with miniatures.

Simply lay your white 3 1/2" square face up. On the top right corner place a blue 1 1/2" square, aligning the edges.

Stitch from the top left corner of the blue square to the bottom right corner of the blue square.

Trim your seam allowance 1/4 inch from your stitching line.

Press triangle toward the outside of the block.

I like to chain piece my snowballs - I simply overlap the squares and sew the corners in one long line.

You can stitch, trim and press each corner at once, but I prefer to do all my sewing, then all my trimming, and finish with pressing.

You should now have 24 snowball blocks. Check back next week and we will make all of our nine-patch blocks without cutting individual squares - the fast, easy and fun way!